Abnormally Hot Weather

Okiedawn OK Zone 7June 2, 2011

If you are in the area covered by the Tulsa office of the NWS, they have issued a Special Weather Statement covering the forecasted abnormally high temperatures and heat indices expected the next few days.

I'll link it below, but to sum it up briefly, it is going to be unseasonably hot and that can be dangerous this early in the season when folks are not yet fully acclimated to the increased heat.

We've already had a couple of days here in our county in the last week where our heat index hit 103-105 and it was not pleasant. I wimped out and came inside early on those days. I know I am not used to it, and the heat even bothered Tim, which is rare. Remember that it is not just the heat---the humidity can give you a much higher heat index, so drink lots of liquids and be careful.

Thanks, Dawn. My last day of school was yesterday. I can never see outside from my classroom unless I find an outside door and open it. That means that I could be at a higher risk than usual for the heat -- with very little time to become acclimated.

This year has presented so many problems to me. My precious roses have leaves that are ok, but the early cold, the wind, and heat together with the damage from last winter have left me with no significant spring bloom. I have spent my time removing "brown" buds. (The thrips are working well.)

My tomatoes have suffered because of the wind. I thought they were rather safe in my huge containers and each one surrounded by concrete wire. I hope the wind has not affected them like it would have affected a rose. I do fear that the tomatoes have swung and been hit so hard by the wind that they have not rooted as well as they should. They are growing, but things don't seem to be right. Time will tell.

Possibly I just think I need to be out there to make them healthy. Not only was our school year extended until yesterday (and 2 hours tomorrow), but each day was extended 30 minutes. That 30 minutes was part of my ability to garden for 30 minutes.

Enough of the complaints. I hope you all have a good day outside today. I can see light, and need to get out there.

I'm really behind on planting, which is kind of normal for me. Things are complicated by chores with the animals, which occupy the coolest morning hours; and my bee keeping which often eats up a couple of afternoons a week. Yesterday, in spite of the heat, I went out to tackle a bunch of weeds and try to plant some more. After forty minutes of high temps and no breeze, I wasn't feeling very well. Ended up going inside, taking a shower and was glued to the recliner for a couple of hours. I felt totally wiped out. I had drunk a lot of liquids. But apparently my body simply couldn't cool properly in the given conditions.

I cycled inside/outside all day long, spending about a half-hour outside then a half-hour inside all day long, trying to cool off often enough that I didn't get sick from the heat. Sometimes, after cooling off sufficiently, I really had to force myself to go back out into the heat again.

It is simply brutal when it is this hot this early in June before our bodies have had a chance to acclimate to ever-increasing temperatures.

Yesterday, on one of its graphics on its webpage, the Norman office of the NWS had this statement up at the top of the page right above the graphic: "Hot and Dry Until Further Notice". They can't say it much more clearly than that, can they?

It's terrible, isn't it? Summer is easily my least favorite season in Oklahoma, though maybe that will change when I get my garden going and have something to look forward to during these miserable months.

I started thumping my cherry tomato blossoms and shaking their cages yesterday. I know cherry toms take the heat better, but I'll help them along any way I can. I haven't seen any blooms on the ground yet, so I guess that's a good sign. I just don't have any new fruit beyond the ones that formed like a month ago.

To tell you the truth, even as a gardener who loves the gardening season, the veggie garden, the herbs and the flowers, I still hate, hate, hate the extreme heat we usually have in July and August. It is all I can do to manage to stay outside working from about 7 a.m. to noon every day, then I come inside to get out of the heat, and then go back outside for another hour or two of work after dinner, until it is too dark to see. My favorite gardening weather is February-May (usually June, but not this year) and September through November!

I do think the heat bothers me more now as I get older than it did when I was in my 20s, 30s or 40s. Also, I got heat exhaustion at a wildfire in 2006, and it seems like my tolerance of the heat has never been the same since then.

With July-like temperatures arriving at the end of May, I feel like the weather is "cheating" us out of the slightly more pleasant weather we normally have in June. Our nephew is getting married next week in Texas and it is an outdoor wedding. I hope the temperatures are kind to them on their wedding day, but I'm sort of thinking they won't be.

Telow, we've been around 99-100 the last few days, but our air has been very dry down here so our heat index has been about the same, or even lower than, the temperature. It looks like it is going to be a long, miserable summer if this weather pattern continues, doesn't it?

Was excited to see one of my Romas and two of the Cherry hybrids have formed fruit in the last two days or so. Hopefully the trend will continue despite the heat. I did put on tomato tone about two or three weeks ago (just before tornado outbreak, when was that?) and had blooms almost the next day. since then have been shaking the cages or the stakes so it seems to be working. Now if only the pepper plants would put on a bloom or two!

I don't have tomato tone, but I did give them a bit of balanced plant food a few days ago. I saw some new teeny tiny tomatoes when I looked them over a little more closely last night, so I guess they're still setting fruit fine. One of my earliest tomatoes is starting change color, too, so I may finally get my first ripe tomato soon!

How often do you suppose I should be watering the tomatoes in this heat? I tend towards infrequent deep soaks as opposed to daily light watering, and the heat dries out the top of the soil so fast that it's hard to tell when the deeper soil is dry. I keep them well-mulched, too. I'm on about a five-day cycle with my other shrubs and trees, but I'm guessing tomatoes need water more often than that.

Sammy I can't imagine being in school this long- my classroom window unit air conditioner (that automatically shuts off at 3:15) would have never kept up.

I've decided to shift to a siesta-based schedule in this heat. I got three hours of work in after it cooled off last night, and got some things done early this morning before art camp. (a post-art-camp nap is a must - K-1 this week) Then later work until its too dark to see. I really hate being out in this heat and don't handle it well, I end up useless, with a headache & in the recliner.

I wouldn't have so much to do out there, but my mulch delivery arrived today and those veggies sure need it in this heat.